Crossed Roads
Risk Role Play 2k5 - Friday, March 05, 2010, 7:40 PM Northern Crossroads The cold wind from the swamp to the north chills the air at this intersection, where two roads going in opposite directions meet. One leads west to Polyhex, the Decepticon stronghold rebuilt from its own ashes. The other runs north to the Cybertronian Swamplands and south to the Northern Highway. The bridge that once crossed the swamp is gone, leaving no way across other than by air. Faint, eerie sounds seem to filter down from the distant swamp when the wind briefly calms, but disappear before they can be identified. With contrails streaming off her wingtips as she plows through the thin atmosphere, Fusillade doesn't make any particular attempt at being stealthy. With air whistling through her idling engines as she descends to get a closer look of the ruined roadways. She beckons her escort fliers to join her at lower altitudes, where Cybertron's rejuvenated glow helps keep the perpetual night of space at bay. <> Americon collapses and shrinks down into a very tiny cassette labeled, "America's Most Patriotic Hits!" F/A-18 Super Hornet supercruises along in the slipstream of Fusillade's starboard wing in order to save fuel; he consumes more JP-8 in the thin atmosphere of Cybertron than he does on Earth. "Aye-aye, Wing Leader," Boomslang sends back in a smug drawl. "I'm locked, hot, and ready to rock." His hardpoints are positively bristling with ground-attack munitions, and he's even toting a droptank on his centerline. "Gonna hit 'em like a hurricane in a shantytown." Patriotic Cassette is nowhere near as fast as the other Decepticons, even in bird mode, so he settles for hijacking one of them while he's in his cassette mode. But which one!? Whomever it is will know soon enough as "America, F*** Yeah" begins to inexplicably play from somewhere inside their chassis. From Exo-Armor Warthog , Noah Wolfe cruses along from the south with his hands lightly on the controls. Out for a stroll? Running around without protection? Who can say. Noah is out here, that's good enough, especally if there's trouble. F-15E Strike Eagle meanwhile has the port side, so he's on the opposite side of the bomber as Boomslang is. "Armed and ready, and everything he said too!" Even if he only understood about half of it, the universal meaning of 'kick ass and slag Autobots' is there. And probably not in him, seeing as magnetics would be very bad for a tape, possibly. Archaic Cybertronian Fighter Jet is grumpy. He was finally back on Cybertron, and had to take refuge in the rather...uncomfortable quarters of the Wreckers. Then to make matters worse, he had to get up from a spot where he'd finally made himself halfway comfortable, and go scouting. It wouldn't be so bad if he hadn't been ordered to scout one of the worst patches of real estate on the planet. "Of all the rotten....I bet I run into Decepticons before much longer. Space-Going B-1R Lancer has a galley kitchen AND a crew toilet. Place your bets about Americon's whereabouts now. Porsche 959 is out on a patrol, given Rodimus Prime's recent orders. He doesn't really want a fight, but with the climate on Cybertron like it is now, he may well find one. Truth be told, the encounter with Galvatron has the unflappable detective rattled. Galvatron wants Nightbeat DEAD - that much is abundantly clear. A lotta people do, but he's the only one with a fusion cannon. Eeesh. This was Lab-Brat's first time on Cybertron. Most of it was just so... so clean and pristine. But here out int he swamps, it felt a bit more at home. "From all I'd heard about Cybertron, I'd thought it would be just one lage metal city. This is rather facsinating..." Lab-Brat muses as he explores the strange swamps of Cybertron. From Exo-Armor Warthog , Noah Wolfe already introed. The classic Seeker was unfamiliar to Fusillade, but her personal bias to the F-15's blocky angles makes her more comfortable with Polarity's presence than if he had been a tetrajet. With a flick of nose canards, she tells the group over the crescendo of Americon's anthem, <> Senator Americon says, "*TERRORISTS YOUR DAYS ARE THROUGH*--llade, could you, uh, drop me off--*NOW YOU HAVE TO ANSWER TO*" Fusillade says, "You can go through the sump! *toilet-flush sound*" Porsche 959 thinks to himself, 'Mmmyep.' There's the trouble he was expecting. Two medium blips, one big - he makes tentative identifications of the bni one as Codename: Fusillade and one of the medium as Codename: Boomslang, but the third... he doesn't know. And that bugs him. He needs to know more. Nightbeat cuts and breaks that way. Combat: Nightbeat analyzes Polarity for weaknesses. Space-Going B-1R Lancer drops a spray of blue-green liquid. From Exo-Armor Warthog , Noah Wolfe throttles up to high...well, as fast as this tincan will go. It's a small tank afterall. Noah brings up his targeting systems highlighting the decepticons in his sights. He switches over to his mini-guns which slide out from slots under the rear engine pods. They rotate up and start firing off red and yellow bursts of energy into the air at Boomslang. "Yeah Whistler, light 'em up!" His AI chirps happily to comply. Combat: Exo-Armor Warthog Tank misses F/A-18 Super Hornet with its high speed laser cannons (Laser) attack! "We've got incoming fire!" announces Boomslang as laser bolts coming snapping up from the ground. "Break, break, break!" He throws on the ailerons and rolls out of formation, diving towards the enemy and returning fire with a burst of autocannon before pulling up again and dipping his wing to look over his shoulder. Combat: F/A-18 Super Hornet strikes Exo-Armor Warthog Tank with his Autocannon (Pistol) attack! Fusillade says, "Engaging the enemy now over Cyberswamps. Now would be a good time for a second thrust elsewhere on the planet, if you catch my drift." Catechism says, "Unfortunately, we only have one Thrust, but I can dress in drag, if you want." "I'm tracking three hostiles on the ground," Boomslang sends back to the other two Decepticons as he climbs away again and arms his munitions. "And one in the air, angels eight, sixteen miles and closing, angling to intercept." Senator Americon says, "That would be UNAMERICAN. Except in San Francisco. In America." Catechism says, "Redshift, where do we keep the red paint?" Redshift says, "I have a large supply of firetruck red." Redshift says, "but you can't have any." Catechism says, "Well, FINE. I wanted maroon, anyway!" Lab-Brat blinks his yellow optics and looks up at the sounds of battle, battles we're always welcomed becuase they ment explosions. He clasps his hands togeahter and scans the skies, but is a bit distraught at the lack of that blue and white bat-like Decepticon he fought last time that cuased such a magnifcent explosion. Maybe one of these others might be able to match it. From his junkpack he pulls out what looks like several small windup toys. Winding up the deceptive little bombs, he tosses them up towards the first Jet he sees. Combat: Lab-Brat's Clockwork Bombers attack aimed for F-15E Strike Eagle backfires! Combat: Lab-Brat strikes himself with his Clockwork Bombers attack! Polarity says, "Mmmm, I love having no shortage of targets. Who wants dibs on who?" <> Fusillade remarks wistfully, although her tone doesn't really convey any surprise at Boomslang's revelation. She ducks down, very close to the deck, engaging the hard ride setting on her terrain-following navigation. The Lancer pounces on the ground-based Autobots with small weapons fire, menacing them to coax out any special weaponry or abilities, hoping to get them to show their cards early in the game. She barrels down upon Nightbeat, strafing him with high-capacitor bursts from the argon disruptor recessed within her nosecone. Combat: Space-Going B-1R Lancer strikes Porsche 959 with her K-chow! (Laser) attack! Former Senator Americon says, "I shall duel the AMERICAN! That is not me!" Fusillade says, "I shall destroy whomsoever is unlucky enough to fall under my shadow. And good speed, Americon!" Boomslang says, "I'm tracking on the enemy air." Archaic Cybertronian Fighter Jet suddenly banks, turning in a wide arc as he alters his heading towards the Crossroads. Power ripples through his systems as he brings his weapons online, and his afterburners kick in as he speeds up to reach the battle faster. He analyzes his attack pattern, and realizes that one of the Decepticons is closing with him, and he grins inwardly. "Alright, Decepti-creep, let's dance." Dogfight calls, as his machine gun opens up. He alters course again to bring his weapon along Boomslang's front. Combat: Archaic Cybertronian Fighter Jet misses F/A-18 Super Hornet with his Machine Gun attack! <> the strike eagle short-waves back to start an introduction, but it's cut short by gunfire being aimed up at them. <> Banking up and rolling away from the other two jets he breaks the formation and dives downward towards the ground. Nightbeat's scans would probably pick up a lot of magnetic wavelength coming from the jet. Which may of screwed up the bombs thrown at him. Or it might just be bad luck on the Junkion's part. Possibly more bad luck that it also got Polarity's attention, and a hail of fire as he unloads a few rounds from the small energy disruptors partially concealed in his wing tips. Combat: F-15E Strike Eagle sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: F-15E Strike Eagle misses Lab-Brat with his Strafing Run (Disruptor) attack! Polarity says, "Is there a reason the one bot looks like he's already half falling apart? Not that it matters, I'll just make him fall apart the rest of the way!" Porsche 959 is blasted in the wheel by Fusillade's argon laser, which tosses him flying into the air when his tyre explodes. He transforms in mid-air, tucks, and hits the ground hard, rolling out into a ditch. It could be worse, he reflects. He could be covered in petrol and on fire. Grunting, the detective gets to his feet, and he zooms in on the Lancer that so rudely removed him from the road. His display reports, "Weaknesses: Booze, loose men, European sports cars, and hitting things.' Hmm! Nightbeat thinks he can manage, well, an embarassing number of those. The puzzle pieces of Porsche 959 rearrange into the hard-boiled Autobot detective, Nightbeat! Combat: Nightbeat analyzes Fusillade for weaknesses. Redshift says, "Cut off his hands so he can't put himself back together." Boomslang says, "Ahh, yeah, that'll be a Junkion. Trick with them is to break 'em faster than they reassemble." Patriotic Cassette is unceremoniously ejected from Fusillade via her plumbing systems, and tumbles through the air before he explodes into his eagle mode! "That's the last time I stow aboard somebody's crapper!" he says. "But that's ok, I'm sure no one's ever used that toilet before. Uh. Right, Fusillade?" He shudders for a moment at the thought of a tiny little man using a tiny toilet inside his body. "Ugh!" He manages to shake it off, though, and plummets down towards Noah Wolfe, talons extended. "I challenge you to a duel!" he caws. Americon's robot legs pop out metallic feather-like objects as they and his lower torso split apart, also revealing an eagle head. The arms and robot head join the main body, and his guns convert into tail feathers and rocket launchers. Americon is now a bald eagle! Combat: Robotic Bald Eagle misses Exo-Armor Warthog Tank with his In The Face (Kick) attack! Polarity ooohs. "Never seen one of them before. I love getting to break something new, mwehehe.." From Exo-Armor Warthog , Noah Wolfe cranks the armor to the side and transforms, diving below the talons sweeping by just inches away. He hits the ground and pulls back on the joystick and throttles while slamming on the pedals. The armor rolls around, holding its laser rifle and takes some pot shots at Americon. "Oy, I'm just here to shoot cons. But if you want some, come and get some bird brain!" In England! Exo-Armor Warthog Tank transforms into its Exo-Armor Warthog Robot mode. F/A-18 Super Hornet twists into a half-roll, the barrage of high-caliber tracers arcing past him as he swings out of the way, crosses over Dogfight and pulls back hard. Contrails peel off of his leading edge wing-extensions as he hauls his nose around and locks a heat-seeking missile onto Dogfight's exhaust. "Fox two!" Boomslang calls out, a Sidewinder lunging off his port wingtip rail and pursuing Dogfight's exhaust doggedly. Combat: Exo-Armor Warthog strikes Robotic Bald Eagle with its Medium Laser attack! -1 Combat: F/A-18 Super Hornet sets his defense level to Guarded. Combat: F/A-18 Super Hornet strikes Archaic Cybertronian Fighter Jet with his AIM-9X Sidewinder attack! With a rather large *BAH-BOOM!* Lab-Brat goes flying backwards, and by sheer dumb luck Polarity's blast hit where he was standing when the dust from the explosion clears. Lab-Brat shakes his head and chuckles "Well that will teach me to go slogging through a swamp right before a battle! Even if it did give me front row seats to an awesome show!" He luaghs and brushes himself off, a bit of scrap armor falling from his body though he doesn't seem to mind. While he is certainly absent-minded, and for a Junkion that might be saying something, he is smart enough to realize that he best wait for his explosives to dry before a second use. From a side holster he pulls out what seems to be a replica Nintendo Zapper, and returns fire on the oddly colored jet. Combat: Lab-Brat strikes F-15E Strike Eagle with his Zapper (Laser) attack! Darkwing says, "If you want to break somethgin new, you probably shouldn't go after such rubbish as a Junkion" <> Fusillade chirps back at Americon, frowning a bit to herself as she realizes there hasn't been any return fire from the Detective. Sneaky! "Must be up to something," she grunts, twisting in a lazy, wide arc before transforming and plunking down to the ground once she is satisfied that there aren't many more Autobots hiding in the crevices and rest stops along the crossroads. Unfurling one wingblade defensively, she cocks her head as she places closer to the detective. "Now what are you getting up to over there? Pretty reserved for someone who did a number on the Emperor..." With her free hand, she flexes her finertalons, and with a 'whummmm' she fires up her wingblades' magnetic recall systems for off-label use, and sends a shaped ball of plasma in Nightbeat's direction. The sleek bomber rears up, wings collapsing onto hips even as the rear fuselage splits to form arms. The horizontal stabilizer slides up, the forward fuselage folds up accordian style, and Fusillade hops up on thrustered feet. Combat: Fusillade misses Nightbeat with her Plasma Caster attack! Combat: Used up 1 Plasma Shells. 7 remain. Polarity says, "Well as they say, one mech's trash is another mech's target. Besides, its new to me. And that means I get to, mwehehehe, -experiment-." Fusillade says, "Nnn,he's planning something.." Archaic Cybertronian Fighter Jet emits a growl from his speakers. "Now here's a Decepticon who knows how to party!" He actually sounds gruffly joyous right now, as he cuts his afterburners, the flaps on his forward wings suddenly forming almost a perpendicular with his wing as he brakes himself in mid air to altercourse, grunting as the sidewinder explodes against him. "Missiles are cheating!" Dogfight says, before kicking in his engines again to pursue Boomslang, a missile detaching from underneath his wing. "Fortunately, I can play that game too." Monstereo says, "Aries. You'll continue playing dress-up this week, despite being almost 30, and feeling kind of silly every time you put on that professional-looking suit." Combat: Archaic Cybertronian Fighter Jet misses F/A-18 Super Hornet with his Short-Range Missile attack! F-15E Strike Eagle banks into a turn and comes around for another pass, and takes a laser scorch across a wing for his trouble as he's getting a bead back on his intended target. Swooping down, and a flip and flutter of parts comes to a stop in robot mode hovering over the ground. Which is really easy to do on Cybertron, as he just repels himself from the magnetic ground. "Well, I've never seen a walking junkpile before. But I guess there's a reason that scrapyards have giant magnets, hah!" Snapping up one arm, he thrusts it out towards the Junkion, causing bits of metal debris to scattering across the crossroads as the magnetic pulse repels it along its path The Strike Eagle jet rearranges into the magnetic Seeker Polarity! Combat: Polarity misses Lab-Brat with his Magnetic Pulse attack! -2 Robotic Bald Eagle yells back at Fusillade, "Soundwave used it in tape deck mode!? But... but... that's..." He's so horrified that he doesn't notice Noah Wolfe shooting at him, even after Noah's laser scorches his chest. "That's horrible and disgusting! I didn't think it was possible, either! Why did Soundwave never tell me he could pee!?!" He glances over at Noah, and recalls that he said 'Oy,' and frowns! "Oh, right, you. Who the hell says 'oy?' What an un-American thing to say! For this, you lose your eyes!" So, then Americon flings himself at the head of Noah's exo, and with vicous pecking, tries to dig out its camera/visor/thing Noah sees with! Combat: Robotic Bald Eagle sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Robotic Bald Eagle strikes Exo-Armor Warthog with his O' Say Can You See attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily affected Exo-Armor Warthog 's Accuracy. (Blinded) Nightbeat did not per se do a number on Galvatron. Galvatron hitting himself in a face with a chair probably did a whole calculator worth of numbers on Galvatron. Nightbeat more did racing tricks to dodge fire, turned his optics off at an appropriate point, and then wandered off to read a book, which, all in all, was surprisingly effective. Still, the detective grins, devil may care, and he draws his twin photon pistols in a flash. Nightbeat takes aim at the two Deceptions he's examined in details, specifically aiming at the area of Fusillade's armour which probably covers her primary fuel filter, based off his forensic knowledge of anatomy. He drawls, "You're a drinker, too, huh? You'd have to be, engines like that. How'd you like a taste of photons?" Combat: Nightbeat sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Nightbeat strikes Fusillade with his Twin Photon Pistols Area attack! Combat: You took 18 damage. Combat: Nightbeat misses Polarity with his Twin Photon Pistols Area attack! Boomslang says, "Take cover before he does whatever he's planning, then!" From Exo-Armor Warthog , The armor thrashes around, trying to get the bird off before his optic goes out. But to no avail, the whack didn't damage the object that badly, but it'll take some time to adjust it back to clarity again. Whistler warbles something to Noah, which scrolls out onto a holoscreen in the cockpit. "No kidding...I don't have time, switch to the secondary." The screen goes from fuzzy, to less fuzzy. But at least he can see a little bit. Won't improve targeting though. Noah grunts and rolls the armor back to transform it. "I'm British, ya daft git!" It's true, he does sound like it. The armor opens up with two of its mini-guns again, spitting a short burst of laser fire while it starts driving backward to get some distance from the bird. Exo-Armor Warthog transforms into its Exo-Armor Warthog Tank mode. Combat: Exo-Armor Warthog Tank strikes Robotic Bald Eagle with its gatling laser short burst (Pistol) attack! "Maybe you can play it, but can you play it WELL?" Boomslang sends back, popping flares. They sizzle slowly downwards while Boomslang dips into a powerdive towards the Autobots on the ground, trying to clear himself off Dogfight's radar by losing himself in the ground clutter. The missile swerves into one of the flares and detonates with a loud flat bang, well behind Boomslang, who is circling the battlefield in order to get Nightbeat and Noah in a line with his nosecone. He places the pickle mark on Nightbeat and releases a firebomb which ploughs into the ground and bursts like a waterballoon, a huge wall of flames roaring up and forwards in a chaotic swirling wall! Boomslang pulls up hard in an attempt to skip over the incendiary cloud without intaking any of the stuff into his engines himself. "Oh yeah, Americon, clear the fire zone," Boomslang transmits, much too late. Combat: F/A-18 Super Hornet strikes Nightbeat with his Mk.77 Incendiary Bomb Area attack! Combat: F/A-18 Super Hornet strikes Exo-Armor Warthog Tank with his Mk.77 Incendiary Bomb Area attack! Combat: F/A-18 Super Hornet misses Robotic Bald Eagle with his Mk.77 Incendiary Bomb Area attack! Lab-Brat 's optics light up as all the scrap comes towards him! The Junkion is suddenly like a kid in a candy story or hyper active ferret as he coes about collectign all the most interesting bits and stores them in his junk back for later, which absolutely nueter's the poor Seeker's attack. "I'm starting to wonder why you Decepticons are so bad... First that Bat guy shows me all his wonderful explosives, close up and now your giving me free scrap! Maybe the Autobots just have you guys all wrong!" He says with a smile and a luagh. From his back he pulls out some more of his bimbersto see if they are dry, and foolishly walks over to show them to the Seeker that might be well on his way to being Lab-Brat's new best friend with such wonderful junkfinding powers. Unfortunatly, the Junkion trips on something in the swamp and the boombers go flying... Polarity says, "Nice kaboom Boomslang!" Boomslang says, "Thank you." Fusillade says, "Wow, it actually hit what it was supposed to." Former Senator Americon says, "Did you say something, Boomslang?" Fusillade says, "I am glad Scorponok isn't here." Former Senator Americon says, "Well, anyway, I had a close call! Some jerk dropped a bomb right on top of me! Good thing I'm American!" Darkwing says, "Seems they just aren't trying hard enough then..." Boomslang says, "Mm, yeah, you might want to watch out for those." Polarity fwees. "It's all that UNAMERICAN pilots fault! He tried to distract you so you'd get hit!" Former Senator Americon says, "DAMN HIM!" Fusillade half-raises her wingblade in an attempt to pre-empt Nightbeat's shot, but she gets waylaid pretty neatly by the detective's pistols akimbo maneuver. "Gah!!" There's a hefty explosion, space tile from her left thigh shattering and spraying the ground. Ugly black smoke pours from the tremendous wound, and with a vicious snarl, she retaliates viciously, upping the ante. Staggering a bit to keep her balance on a single foot now that her left leg was ruined, she lobs a distressingly out-scaled missile from her torso cavity at the Autobot. Combat: Fusillade sets her defense level to Fearless. Combat: Fusillade strikes Nightbeat with her Eh -dames-. attack! Combat: Used up 1 Missiles. 1 remain. Archaic Cybertronian Fighter Jet would grin if he was currently in robot mode. Wait, that's actually not a bad idea. Boomslang may be trying to fool his onboard sensors when he's in jet mode, but there's more than one way to find a Decepticon. He alters course, turning himself around and kicking in his afterburners to full power. They suddenly cut out as he approaches his top speed, and he transforms, his optics narrowing as he homes in on the Decepticon Seeker he's been tangling with. His arms raise up and his hands come out as he attempts to grab Boomslang and hold on tight. Dogfight is a heck of an Autobot. He's also a heck of a robotic projectile. "I wasn't done with you yet!" He growls. The wings on the fighter flip up, rotating forward as the tail moves forward, splitting into legs. The cockpit area drops and becomes a chestplate, revealing a head as arms come out of the sides. Combat: Dogfight sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Dogfight strikes F/A-18 Super Hornet with his Jet Judo (Grab) attack! The weirdo didn't even duck for cover? This gets Polarity to raise an optic ridge, not that it's seen behind the visor that gives him some distinction from other Seekers. Very little, but it's still something. He takes a moment to appreciate Boomslang's pyrotechnics, but then gets a front row seat to some of his own as the junkion tosses more bombs at him. Oof! On the bright side, the brief stagger and lurch as he actually lands on the ground inadvertantly evades the photon blast flung his way. "My my, it looks like I'm drawing fire now!" Cackling at this, he brushes off his scorched and soot coated chest. Then starts to stalk towards the Junkion with the gleam of a manevolet smirk upon his metal lips. While subtly altering the fields around his body to form an actual barrier of magnetic energy waves. Combat: Polarity creates a forcefield shielding himself from damage. Robotic Bald Eagle crunches on some glass as pulls away from Noah. "MM, that's some good--" ZOT! Americon glares as he takes another laser blast to the chest. "Ok, that is getting old! I am the only one allowed to use lasers around here! Prepare to--" He stops himself short as a wall of flame suddenly appears just five feet from he is hovering off the ground. Taking a moment to consider his luck, Americon transforms to robot mode, and backs away a bit, looking uneasy. "Uh, ok, so where were we..." He raises a blaster, waits for something to emerge from the flames, and fires at it, no matter what it is! But it turns out to be Noah. Americon undergoes a patriotic transformation into his All-American robot mode! Combat: Americon misses Exo-Armor Warthog Tank with his Red White and Blue Lasers attack! Nightbeat takes the brunt of Boomslang's fireworks on his chest, and his head is literally blown off. Fusillade's missile impacts him in the arm - it's just like a dame, he reflects. Easy on the eyes, but they'll twist your arm clean off, if you let them. His head falling off is the least of his damages, given that his head goes back on really easily. The worst part, he finds out, when he tries to get up, on hands and feet, is his right arm lolling uselessly. He hunkers down in the swamp, which unforgivingly swallows up one of his photon pistols, behind some old, rusted pipes. Nightbeat's head scrambles to reunite with the rest of his body, and that completed, he works to at least get his fingers operational again, even if the strength of that arm is shot and one of his beloved photon pistols has been sunk. (This is why Nightbeat carries at least five guns at all times. No, really. It's a bit kooky and obsessive.) Combat: Nightbeat sets his defense level to Protected. Combat: Nightbeat quickly patches up some of his minor injuries. From Exo-Armor Warthog , Noah Wolfe goes bouncing away from the explosion. The armor gets picked up by the bomb and flipped upside down unceremoniously. Finally, it skids to a halt with flaming chunks of road sprinkled about. Noah grabs his head and pulls it away with some blood on it. Noah grumbles, "Great...arugh!" He looks down at his leg where a nice sliver of metal is stuck. Grabbing it, he hisses in pain for a second, but leaves it alone for now. At least it's keeping the flood from spurting out. He flips a switch and transforms the armor. It transforms into robot mode and charges at Americon. Noah, driven by pain and fatigue, charges forward blindly with his shoulder, hoping to nail the bird or run him over. One or the other. "RRRrraaaaaaaah!" he cries, though not very manly. He's working on his war cry, but it doesn't impress just yet. Exo-Armor Warthog Tank transforms into its Exo-Armor Warthog Robot mode. From Exo-Armor Warthog , Thankfully, Americon's laser blast just arcs harmlessly over his shoulder by a lucky miss. Combat: Exo-Armor Warthog strikes Americon with its Desperation (Ram) attack! F/A-18 Super Hornet is very much surprised to have an Autobot suddenly slam into him from above! "Fox four!" he shouts in alarm, transforming reflexively while spinning out of control. Boomslang and Dogfight crash into the ground at six hundred miles an hour in a tangle of limbs, bounce, go sailing through the air, bounce again like a flat stone skipped across a pond. With a frog tangled up with the stone. On the second bounce Boomslang finally recovers his balance and fires up his engines again, flames blasting from his boots as he tries to overpower Dogfight and grind him into the ground as it comes up to meet the two of them at an alarming speed. The F-18 produces that distinctive transformation sound as it flips around and pops out limbs to assume a humanoid shape. Combat: Boomslang sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Boomslang strikes Dogfight with his Severe Landing Gear Malfunction (Smash) attack! "Smelt, that still stings," Fusillade whimpers a bit, favoring the still leaking leg. She scowls as Nightbeat withdraws. "FINE! Be that way, party pooper!" She shakily holds up her nickel plated ROBO Desert Eagle, and fires wildly in his direction as he hunkers down, unaware of his self-repairs. She angrily hobbles over toward him. Combat: Fusillade misses Nightbeat with her Disruptor attack! Lab-Brat gets up from the muck, unfortunatly missing the Boomer's bomb, or maybe it was the shockwave that was the reason he tripped. Regardless, the Junkion seems rather oblivious to Polarity's threat to him as he seems cuaght up in examining what looks to be an old undetontated bomb that he found after his trip. Combat: Lab-Brat takes extra time to steady himself. Pass Dogfight is damaged as he is pushed hard into the ground as the two fighters crash hard, though to look at the expresson on his face, this is just business as usual for the scrappy Autobot. One half of his optic goggles is dimmed slightly, and his armor is dented and scratched. One wing is bent at an odd angle, like a little more work could get it to wrap around him like a shield. "Wow, an Autobot grabs you and you panic like someone just off the assembly line." He grunts as he shifts underneath Boomslang slightly. "I'd like to introduce you to a friend of mine. Betsy, meet slag. Slag, meet Betsy." His trusty shotgun comes up and aims as close to Boomslang's face as he can. Combat: Dogfight strikes Boomslang with his Betsy: Energon Shotgun attack! Not paying attention to him? Tsk tsk. Now it would be really cruel to attack a guy that's not even watching, wouldn't it? Being the jerk he is, Polarity does just that. Partially because he -is- that much of a jerk. Partially because he doesn't want to over-excert himself while his field is up. And partially because he can't pass on a good set up. While Lab-Brat is examining his new find, the Seeker creeps up behind him in an exaggerated manner. Until he's right behind him. Then screams "ROBO WEDGIE!" as he makes a grab for Lab-Brat's backside, yanks upward in the motion that typically goes with such action (same robots don't actually wear underwear) and toss him into one of the pools of swamp muck. Combat: Polarity sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Polarity misses Lab-Brat with his Robo Wedgie! (Punch) attack! Americon is taken off guard as his target emerges from the flames, and charges at him, like flaming wraith of vengeance! "Woah, holy crap!" he exclaims before the figure slams into him. However, Americon is shorter than the exo-suit, so the exo pretty much runs right over him, though he doesn't quite get away in time before Americon grabs the exo by the ankle. "That was a good scream, but it needs more heart! Here, let me show you one of my screams! HEEEYAAARRRGHHHHAAAHHHHHEEEEEEEE OH GOD NYAAAARRRROOOOOHHHHEEEEEEEE! Now you try it!" Then, since it would obviously be the most logical attack from this stance, Americon tries to punch Noah in the ankle! Combat: Americon strikes Exo-Armor Warthog with his Devastating Ankle Punch of Fear (Punch) attack! Nightbeat is not a large ROBO game animal and is therefore not really a typical target of a ROBO Desert Eagle. Thusly, those rusted pipes shield him from Fusillade's attack. He can hear her hobbling toward him, however, and he idly adjust the sights on one of his other guns, looking up at the wedgieing North Star himself. Hmm. Forcefield. Probably indicates a high rate of energon consumption, the detective thinks. But back to Fusillade. She seems to be easily annoyed, Nightbeat is starting to realize, and if Nightbeat is anything, it's downright infuriating. Sights properly adjusted on the back-up gun, the detective peeks over the pipes and lets them rip. Combat: Nightbeat misses Fusillade with his Twin Photon Pistols Area attack! Combat: Nightbeat misses Polarity with his Twin Photon Pistols Area attack! From Exo-Armor Warthog , That was enough to send the exo-armor tripping and down to one knee. Noah grunts at the shock diging into his wound, but nothing major. Noah looks down at Americon and growls, "Usually, I'm the bug that needs squashing." He rears back a fist and sends it slamming down next to his foot. Combat: Exo-Armor Warthog misses Americon with its little fist (Punch) attack! Boomslang yanks his head out of the way in time to spare the eye, but the blast of glowing pellets scores his cheek deeply and tears off part of his conical helmet. "You think you're the only gunslinger in this town?" the urban-camo Seeker sneers as he stands up, reaching down. His thigh panel snaps open and a six foot long revolver ejects straight up out of it so that he can catch it in his right hand. He twirls it deftly around his fingers and takes a step back from Dogfight, raising the revolver to shoulder level and pointing it upwards in a duellist's stance. "Come on, then, Old Man. I'll make it quick." Polarity says, "You got it buddy" Combat: Boomslang sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Boomslang analyzes Dogfight for weaknesses. Was Nightbeat's miss a result of Fusillade's studiousness in parrying classes meant for deflecting weaponsfire? Not at all! Fusillade's weakened leg gives out, and she goes down in a thick squelch of cybermuck and a flurry of expletives. "You PANSY!" she practically roars, "SHOW YOURSELF!!!" She transforms, igniting thrusters to clear herself of the gummy mire, and saturating the swamp with explosives. Fusillade leans forward, wingblades whipping out to their full span, even as her arms lock backward in place as the rear fuselage. Her torso folds out to the become the cockpit of a space capable B-1R Lancer, ready for flight! Combat: Space-Going B-1R Lancer strikes Nightbeat with her Bombs attack! Combat: Used up 1 Bombs. 3 remain. Dogfight rolls to his feet then, or tries to, wincing as there's a sudden loud sound of gears grinding. But it's gone as quickly as it comes, and he grimaces. "That's going to hurt a lot later." But then he moves towards Boomslang, turning so that he presents a profile view to the gun-slinging Decepticon, "Maybe you don't understand what the name means, kid. Time for an education." he snarls, raising his shotgun to hit Boomslang across the face with it. Fusillade says, "I will set this entire swamp on fire to find him!!!" Fusillade says, "How are the rest of you doing?" Lab-Brat blinks and looks around. "Huh? Someone say something?" He asks as Polarity ends up in the muck rather then him thanks to momentum of the attempted wedgie action. He shrugs and goes back to his find; continuing to examine and tinker with the bomb until he finds the problem! "Ah this should fix you up, lil fellow! There's nothing sadder then a failed explosion..." He says and replaces the bomb's fualty detonator with one of his makeshift ones he uses from his bombers. He picks it up and thrusts it above his head; as the zelda treasure theme plays. "Now lets give you a good home! I know, I bet my jet friend would love to have you!" He then seems aware that Polarity isn't around, well really just can't see him in all this muck, so tosses it towards one of the others. "Here ya go!" Combat: Dogfight sets his defense level to Neutral. Combat: Lab-Brat strikes Boomslang with his Old Bomb attack! Combat: Dogfight misses Boomslang with his Mah Gun. Let Me Show You It (Punch) attack! Boomslang says, "I'm about to ventilate this hostile's braincase." In the time that's passed the magnetic field has been picking up stray bits of metal and rubble from the mire around him, its a few bits of sucn debris that Nightbeat's blast knock free again and send gloshing off into the swamps once more, with no arm to the seeker or his barrier. Forgetting the Junkion for the time being, he fires his boot jets and launchs back into the air to take a more defensive position in the air. "I guess it's time for a little repulsive force. Hah!" Essentially he peels the 'bubble' of magnetic waves off himself, shifting the flux to wrap it around the other Seeker instead, cackling in a gleefully unhinged manner the entire time. Combat: Polarity's forcefield protecting himself vanishes. Combat: Polarity creates a forcefield shielding Boomslang from damage. Americon rolls away from the punch, and hops up onto Noah Wolfe's head! "And you still are... IN AMERICA!" and then he begins to jump and down on the exo-suit's head! "That is right! I am a real American! Fight for the rights of every man! Uh... didn't catch the other lines! But I am a real American!" Combat: Americon misses Exo-Armor Warthog with his Hogan Hop..? (Kick) attack! Polarity says, "Sorry, I couldn't shift it to stop the scrap-pile's bomb too, but its on ya now!" Nightbeat 's head falls off again. Again, this is not the bad part. The bad part is that Fusillade's attack, in addition to taking out a number of critical systems, blows up another two of his guns! Eeeesh! Even with his head back on, Nightbeat looks and feels like a dead man, but he isn't about to give up the ghost just yet. Shakily, the detective climbs atop that mass of pipes, at last revealing himself, and he manages to stand tall and defiant. (He feels he'll fall anytime.) Leaping into the air, he snaps off shots in two separate directions from two targets, his computer-Nebulan hybrid brain letting him do the math, but will it be enough? Combat: Nightbeat sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Nightbeat strikes Space-Going B-1R Lancer with his Twin Photon Pistols Area attack! Combat: You took 3 damage. Combat: Nightbeat strikes Polarity with his Twin Photon Pistols Area attack! From Exo-Armor Warthog , Noah Wolfe glares at the leaping Americon, "Then, yankee, time to kick seven shades of shit out of you." The armor transforms and peels backward, leaving Americon to land on the ground where Noah once was. Noah flicks a switch as its main cannon comes online. The hypervelocity rail weapon crackles, then fires causing the tank to swerve and shake due to the kickback. Exo-Armor Warthog transforms into its Exo-Armor Warthog Tank mode. Combat: Exo-Armor Warthog Tank misses Americon with its Main Cannon attack! Boomslang turns aside as Dogfight rushes him and Lab-Brat's bombs burst around them, showering Boomslang and his opponent in shrapnel and fire. Boomslang reacts with lightning reflexes, dropping to his knees and bending backwards at the waist to drop under Dogfight's swing of the shotgun's stock. His right arm swings up, firing at Dogfight's chest from below with a ringing clap. A long blast of flame licks from the squeezebore barrel, close enough to singe Boomslang's opponent even if Dogfight should be canny enough to dodge or deflect the deadly shot. Combat: Boomslang strikes Dogfight with his 75mm APCNR Anti-Tank Revolver attack! Boomslang says, "It's okay, Polarity. We've got 'em on the run. I feel it in my turbines." Lab-Brat watches at Polarity just leaves without a word. Thats no way to treat a friend. He pulls out his zapper again and fires on the seeker to get his attention. "Its bad manners to leave a party without saying goodbye!" He says as he pulls the trigger. Combat: Lab-Brat strikes Polarity with his Zapper (Laser) attack! Those chevron shaped afterburners on the Lancer flex and bend, the thrust-vectoring surfaces popping the bomber up and to the left with surprising suppleness. The brunt of Nightbeat's shot goes wide, but manages to nick one of Fusillade's trailing ailerons. Taking some comfort in the report-backs from the Decepticons escorting her, she keeps on the detective, peppering him with light weapons fire still. Pew pew pew! Combat: Space-Going B-1R Lancer strikes Nightbeat with her Disruptor attack! Combat: Nightbeat falls to the ground, unconscious. A cry of pain escapes Dogfight as he's hit directly by Boomslang's so-called 'revolver.' He falls to one knee then, his hand going over the rather ragged hole in his armor. "Slaggitall." He spits out, rolling his head back to look up at Boomslang. "Not bad, son. Not bad." He aims a kick at Boomslang's midsection as he straightens, trying to pull away from the Decepticon to buy himself some time to regroup. And to determine just how badly he's been damaged by that ball of fire. Dogfight's optics blink as Nightbeat goes down. "Wonderful." He spits again, a little energon coating his lips this time. Combat: Dogfight sets his defense level to Guarded. Combat: Dogfight misses Boomslang with his Sweeping Trip Kick Trick (Kick) attack! Polarity jerks a bit as he takes photon and laser shots to the back and snarls a bit under his breath, but doesn't let that waver his focus on shielding Boomslang. He's built to take some beating, even without his fields protecting him. It'd be foolish to have a projector be frail, after all. Belaying shooting back at the moment, he instead hovers down to perch on a jagged outcropping were he can at least defend himself a little better while keeping the main barrier on the other warrior. Combat: Polarity sets his defense level to Guarded. Combat: Polarity takes extra time to steady himself. Pass Americon stumbles as he stomps on the ground, and not Noah! "DURF!" he cries out. He straightens himself, dusting his chest off with a wipe of his hand, whistles, and promptly falls back to the floor as a railgun slug whips past him! "WOAH!" Americon yells before landing flat on his face. Pushing himself up, he sees that Noah had been pointing a big cannon at him! "Oh, you say you're to kick seven shades of shit out of me? Well, I am going to kick THREE shades of shit out you--red, white, and blue! Now have a taste of MY firepowah!" Then, Americon pulls out his AMERICANNON, an absurdly oversized gun that's larger than he is, mounts it across his shoulder like a bazooka, aims at Noah--at least, he thinks so--and discharges a huge blast which flips him into the air! Combat: Americon strikes Exo-Armor Warthog Tank with his Americannon attack! Polarity nyehehes. "Man, I didn't even FEEL that kick. What a wreck. Put him outta his misery, Boomer!" From Exo-Armor Warthog , Noah Wolfe hasn't noticed Nightbeat going down. He's got his hands full with Americon. The blast washes over the hovertank melting bits and armor plating. That of course is before everything goes puce for Noah. That's his color for pain, puce. The armor smokes and shakes, its engines sputtering as the pilot coughs and spits out a bit of blood. "Autobots, we've got to...." he turns and sees Nightbeat, "...oh no..." He transforms the sparking and smoking armor painfully and says, "...Aaaaargh!" Hey, it's getting better. The armor's fists link together and come slaming down at Americon...in America. Exo-Armor Warthog Tank transforms into its Exo-Armor Warthog Robot mode. Combat: Exo-Armor Warthog strikes Americon with its double axe handle (Smash) attack! Boomslang snaps his left arm out to full extension, his combat knife ejecting into it from his wrist while he holsters the smoking revolver. He hops up onto his feet and turns back towards Dogfight, tosses the knife into his right hand, and steps forward to plant his left foot inside Dogfight's sweeping leg before it can land. Yanking his foot backwards to hook the leg, Boomslang reaches for Dogfight's opposite shoulder and tries to slash him across the neck and spill his fuel. "Why, thanks, Stranger. I do my best," drawls Boomslang, with a wide, bright chromium-steel smile. Combat: Boomslang strikes Dogfight with his Bleeding attack! Fusillade hisses out approvingly, "Savage." Lab-Brat transforms changing from a skinny robot to bulky lil garbage truck. He revs his engine as he dries right towards the seeker with the magnetic personality. He does his best to get up to ramming speed in the murk and myre of the swap and hurtle his large frame against Polarity. Combat: Lab-Brat strikes Polarity with his Ram attack! Boomslang says, "I think he liked that energon better when it was still in his body." Former Senator Americon says, "Boomslang? Are you a Navy SEAL? Just wondering!" Boomslang says, "I've got a diverse set of close quarters combat rout... uh, yeah, Americon. I am an American Navy SEAL. In America." Former Senator Americon says, "I KNEW IT!" Boomslang says, "Polarity, how're you holding up? I don't think this hostile has much life in him if you need to recall your field." Polarity says, "Just a little roughed up. It's more that I can only focus so much energy in so many directions at once. If you're in the clear, then alright. I could stand to not be dividing my resources." Boomslang says, "Roger, now that Nightbeat's off the field I can take care of myself." Dipping a wing as she wanders the skies aimlessly now that she doesn't have a target, Fusillade comes >< close to engaging another one of the joint Autobot/EDC/Junkion team, when she remembers something. Transforming back to robot mode, she gingerly settles on the ground, and hobbles over. "Not really one for taking trophies, but someone back at base is probably -expecting- it..." She leans forward, and gets to butchering as a gift to Galvatron. The sleek bomber rears up, wings collapsing onto hips even as the rear fuselage splits to form arms. The horizontal stabilizer slides up, the forward fuselage folds up accordian style, and Fusillade hops up on thrustered feet. Combat: Fusillade sets her defense level to Neutral. Combat: Fusillade takes extra time to steady herself. Pass Dogfight grunts then as he's slashed, more fuel spilling out, though he is, for the moment, still on his feet. He reels backwards, energon leaking out of his neck from the wound Boomslang cut into him. He opens his mouth to spit another curse at the Decepticon, but his lips work and no sound comes out. He sighs then, one hand lifting to wipe across his face for a moment. His optics narrow, as he regards the Decepticon for a moment. He's weighing his options, and not liking what he sees at all. Then he limps up to Boomslang, raising his shotgun as he does so. His lips form the words 'I don't like you' and he fires. Combat: Dogfight sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Dogfight strikes Boomslang with his Betsy: Energon Shotgun attack! Combat: Polarity's forcefield absorbs Dogfight's attack. Polarity cackles from his vantage point as he watchs Boomslang pull out his knife and plunge it into his victim. "Atta boy Boomer," he catcalls down, "Make sure he gets the -point-! That we'll -cut- this -slice- of life sho--" And his punning is cut short by the garbage truck slamming into him, knocking him from his hiding spot and skidding roughly across the ground on his back, where he was already shot up to boot. With a grunt he stops and snaps his body up to land back on his feet. Hmm. Don't want to put too much drain on his power, as he feels the blast of a shotgun impact against the field. But then Boomslang gives the all clear over the radio, and the bits of debris suspended in it clatter to the ground around his feet when the field is dropped. This allows the magnetic Seeker to redirect his resources back to his full disposal. "I guess its time for me to take out the trash ... convenient you're already the truck!" He thrusts both arms in front of him and unleashes the full fluxating force of his magnetic pulsation towards Lab-Rat. Combat: Polarity sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Polarity's forcefield protecting Boomslang vanishes. Combat: Polarity strikes Garbage_Truck with his Magnetic Pulse attack! Combat: Polarity's attack has strange and mysterious effects on Garbage_Truck. Polarity says, "Taken my share of fire, but that just means Imma doin' my job!" Americon was just pulling himself up after firing that massive gun when Noah's fists come crashing down on his head! Americon lays down on the ground, dazed, confused thoughts swirling through his mechanical brain. The double-axe handle... the music Monstereo played a moment ago... it's all coalescing together until... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wiYdUe36_Q That song begins playing from Americon's chest as he leaps to his feet, and begins to prance around the battlefield, clapping his hands, shaking his head about like he's going crazy, pointing at the "audience," and going around trying to Hi-5 people, Autobots in particular. Once his routine is done, he *points* at Noah Wolfe like he's going to body slam him SO hard. Combat: Americon strikes Garbage_Truck with his I'm a Real American Area attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired Garbage_Truck's Agility. (Crippled) Combat: Americon strikes Exo-Armor Warthog with his I'm a Real American Area attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired Exo-Armor Warthog 's Agility. (Crippled) Combat: Americon misses Dogfight with his I'm a Real American Area attack! Nightbeat does fall. He felt his end coming, deep in his struts, long before the finishing blow landed and sealed it all with a kiss of argon. Dames will be the death of him. Swaying off the pipes that made his perch, the cold embrace of the swamp takes him, and the snappish detective falls silent. Fusillade will find his body ripe for the plundering, but there is really little that is exceptional about him - he's just a European sports car with exceptionally good hearing and vision, and no common sense. From Exo-Armor Warthog , Noah Wolfe is amazed by the bodyslam. Noah yelps in surprise and is slammed to the ground stunning him for a few moments. Noah looks at his readouts and sighs. His systems are fried and won't be back on line for a little while. To top it off, he can hardly move himself. He touches a switch on his chair and a panel under the arm rest slides out and rotates showing a keypad with a red and a green light. He taps out a quick code and the light turns green. The holoscreens flicker and blink out, replaced by a timer. Noah grabs a black and yellow stripped handle between his legs and pulls. The armor's back and shoulders blow out and Noah rockets out of the armor on a chair of fire. Inside the mechanics of the armor, the reactor's safeties shut down, causing the reaction within to start consuming the reactor itself, supplying energy for the explosion before THOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! The whole area is engulfed in light, heat, sound, and fury. Noah Wolfe leaves the Exo-Armor Warthog . Noah Wolfe has arrived. Combat: Noah Wolfe strikes himself with Boommaker 1's Huge Explosion #9317 Area attack! Combat: Noah Wolfe's Boommaker 1 is destroyed! Combat: Noah Wolfe falls to the ground, unconscious. Combat: Noah Wolfe misses Americon with Boommaker 1's Huge Explosion #9317 Area attack! Combat: Noah Wolfe strikes Fusillade with Boommaker 1's Huge Explosion #9317 Area attack! Combat: You took 19 damage. Combat: Noah Wolfe's attack has damaged your Agility! Combat: Noah Wolfe misses Boomslang with Boommaker 1's Huge Explosion #9317 Area attack! Combat: Noah Wolfe strikes Polarity with Boommaker 1's Huge Explosion #9317 Area attack! Combat: Noah Wolfe misses Garbage_Truck with Boommaker 1's Huge Explosion #9317 Area attack! Combat: Noah Wolfe misses Dogfight with Boommaker 1's Huge Explosion #9317 Area attack! Combat: Noah Wolfe strikes Exo-Armor Warthog with Boommaker 1's Huge Explosion #9317 Area attack! "That's a shame, I like you more all the time," Boomslang replies. He flicks energon off his blade with a snap of the wrist, taking a step back and grinning wryly at Dogfight from behind the shimmering forcefield which absorbs the energon shot with a crackle. " There is a soft humming sound from Boomslang's chest, some piece of complex electronics warming up. Then with a flicker of static distortion, Boomslang simply vanishes over the course of a second and a half from the extremities in. "I'd take my leave now, if I was you," says Boomslang's harsh metallic voice from just over Dogfight's shoulder. He can be heard moving, briefly, but his rubber-coated joints and silicone soles make very little sound, and wherever he might be is soon impossible to discern over the deafening thunder of the exo's miniature reactor going supercritical. Combat: Boomslang activates his cloaking field and vanishes from sight! Boomslang says, "Splash another one." Boomslang says, "If this flier's got any sense he'll put miles between himself and here, double-time." "Smelt, this stuff is unrecognizable, where is the car's hood? I KNOW I didn't melt anyth-- OH," Fusillade says as she makes out the parts of the wrecked exotic. Scissoring her wingblades to cleave away Nightbeat's knees, she plucks them up and then holds them together to form the car's rear bumper, custom Autobot license plates and all. Looking satisfied, she turns on her (good) heel to meander over to the one arm (and thus part of the hood) that had gotten blown off earlier in the evening. There's an ugly sneer written on her face as she squints against the slowly growing light, "What the... GACK!!" She loses more motion in her servos, and seriously considers going back to her plane mode. "Pyrrhic," she murmurs, lowering a charring gauntlet from shielding her optics. Fusillade sing-songs, "Boomer's gotta boyfriend!" Garbage_Truck is all shook up, as Polarity unleases his magnetic attack on him, and then a small cassetticon strokes him. He tries to rev his engine, but it seems somethgin got knocked loose between the two attacks. The Junkion decides to take a short time out to try and figure what part of hims was knocked loose. Though that priorty takes second when the large explosion goes off. He transforms back to robot mode and goes to check on the human. "You know your supposed to use a blastsheild when you set off an explosion like that!" It seemed odd, usually explosions excite him but the human being knocked out by his own explosion only disapointed him. "You really need to watch more TV to see how to do it right next time..." He says,either not noticinng that the human is unconcious or not caring as he takes to fleshy and put him in a safe out of place location. Combat: Garbage_Truck takes extra time to steady himself. Pass Lab-Brat changes back to his robot mode, which mostly consists of him standing up and lifting his head. Catechism says, "Get him a bucket." Lab-Brat changes back to his robot mode, which mostly consists of him standing up and lifting his head. Boomslang says, "I remember everyone I knife, don't you?" Fusillade says, "Not... helping." Dogfight sways as the force wash of the explosion swirls around him, grunting as Boomslang disappears. He goes down to one knee again, coughing glowing blue into his hand as his optics clear. He slowly gets to his feet, puts his shotgun over his shoulder, and starts walking towards Nightbeat. The rest of the Decepticons are ignored. No words are spoken, but his intention is clear. He's leaving, and he'll drag Nightbeat out if he has to. Of course, he's leaving himself open to parting shots from the Decepticons, but realizes that he's close to that anyway, since he now lacks the energon to respond effectively. Combat: Dogfight begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Fusillade and Polarity Polarity cackles with sadistic glee as his magnetic wave washes over the garbage truck, causing whatever 'mysterious effect' it chooses to this time. He doesn't really care, as long as it's knocking the heck out of his target. The celebrating is cut short though when the exo-armor goes critical and unleashes a REALLY BIG explosion, flinging the Seeker into the air. "Heeeeey, I can see Darkmount from here!" Then starts to tumble back towards the ground below. It takes a few moments to get his bearings in order and shift into jet mode, turning the fall into a steep dive, and spots the Autobot trying to flee as he does so. He snaps up his nose and pulls out of the dive at the last moment, barrelling after Dogfight. "Leaving so soon?," he can be heard cackling as he rockets past, magnetic waves rippling out from his body as he passes to try and knock the Bot back off his feet. With the familiar click-clacking sound the Seeker becomes a F-15E Strike Eagle jet! Americon stares at Noah Wolfe's exo. He didn't bodyslam him, but he was totally going to! Though Noah seemed to slam himself...? Americon shrugs. Whatever works. Then, again, he can't help but stare as his opponent appears to be consumed in flames! Unfortunately for Noah, however, Americon is very short, and the blast wave mostly just rushes harmless over his head. Americon shrugs. "Well, that was fun... in America!" Satisfied with himself, he smiles, and holds his arms across his chest. It seems he might do that for a while until something or someone reminds him he's supposed to be doing something. Combat: F-15E Strike Eagle strikes Dogfight with his Magnetic Field attack! -1 Combat: Americon takes extra time to steady himself. Pass Fusillade says, "Focus your efforts on the extricating and expelling the Junkion. Cybertron's North Pole is ours again." Former Senator Americon says, "Take that, Santa Claus! German bastard!" Polarity singsongs, "I think Boomer is already playing hide-and-seek with him~" Oof, this was really going to hurt in the morning. Sending off an automated request to the oil bathhouse for an executive suite, Fusillade glances over raggedly at Dogfight as he launches an equally decrepit rescue attempt. She doesn't move to engage, but simply gurgles a bit to herself as she creaks down to re-collect the trophy pieces. "Tell your Junkion to cease battle and collect the hyooman, if he still lives. You can have the detective. All of you, leave, and do not return," she aspirates. As Polarity eagerly shoots at Dogfight, Fusillade frowns, and ever so slowly gazes upward, fixing the magnetic-themed Seeker with a draconian glare that can be felt through the thickest of duranium armor. "Break off, you have been assigned a new objective." Polarity giggles a little despite the glare he's getting. "Next time say somethin' before I try to finish a poor sucker off, miss." Boomslang says, "Nice sideswipe, though." Noah Wolfe goes flying on his rocket motor. Ejection seats haven't advanced much in the 100 years or so they've been used. Which is why Noah's gets caught in the blast and is sent tumbling away. "Wahaaaaaa!" He crashes hard into a chunk of roadway, in front of Lab-Brat, and goes silent. Darkness takes Noah. Dead? Death is such a trivial thing for a robot. For a human, it's a little more permanent. Nah, Noah isn't going to die, provided he gets some medical care ASAP. But this is about as close for Noah as it gets. Noah wakes up with a start in a room of white. A figure shimmers in and out of clarity, as if he's part here, part not here. As the billowing cloaked person gets closer, Noah notices...a scythe? It's the reaper! "Noah..." he booms, "...I have come for you." Noah says, "Am I dead?" Death says, "No, not yet. But you are on the precipice between life and death." Dogfight weathers Polarity's attack, staying on his feet, but only just barely, before nodding at Fusillade, unable to speak. He then reaches down, grabbing onto Nightbeat's wrist. He looks around to make sure he's got all the important parts, and then starts to drag the unconcious Autobot away, his optics dimming slightly as he puts the added strain of Nightbeat's body on his already weakened systems. Of course, he can't order the Junk to withdraw, because he's unable to speak, but he at least knows he's out of the fight. MEANWHILE, in the SHADOW WORLD Boomslang flips his knife idly from hand to hand as he saunters casually after the indistinct form of the Junkion. He picks his way through the blurry dim grey landscape, the sounds of the battle coming to him as if from a distance, or underwater. Walking right up behind Lab-Brat, Boomslang examines him for whatever he uses to keep his head attached to his body. Combat: Boomslang analyzes Lab-Brat for weaknesses. Boomslang does not notice the grim spectre of Death. That's a different shadow world. There are a lot of them. Lab-Brat has the human anyway. Noticing the other Autobots Retreating, he realizes its probably best to get out of here as well. He transforms back to his Garbage Truck mode, with Noah getting shunted into his cab. Oblivious of the Decepticon sneaking up behind him. Focusing on getting the human help as saftey is his... well its somewhere on the list of his concerns; becuase no one likes roasted humans. Lab-Brat changes into a Garbage truck with a rather simple transformation. Combat: Garbage_Truck begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Fusillade and F-15E Strike Eagle Polarity, somewhat dryly, "What about that one? Should I pop a cap in his retreatin' skidplate, or not?" Fusillade says, "Your choice." "First phase, complete. Those of you still functioning at half systems or better, canvass the area to make sure that there are no other pockets of resistance." Fusillade achingly transforms, clawing her way into the air and pointing her nosecone back toward the north pole of Cybertron. Boomslang loads his knife back into its spring-loaded holster in his wrist, watching Lab-Brat roll off down the road. That one'll have to wait for another time. Americon whips his head over towards Fusillade, and blinks. "Canvass? Wait, hold on, I'm no painter, Madame! I am a cultural analyst!" F-15E Strike Eagle banks around from giving Dogfight a parting gift, giggling madly to himself despite the dirty looks Fusillade is giving him. He starts to come around coming up behind Lab-Brat and transforms, raising one of his arm-rifles at the retreating Junkion. *POINK* But all that 'shoots' is a little flag with *BANG* written on it. "... Oops, wrong gun." Polarity pauses a moment, and then starts cackling all the same. Combat: You are already in that mode! "Aye-aye, Ma'am," Boomslang transmits back from somewhere around here. "If there are any Autobots creeping around these parts I'll find 'em and air 'em out." Fusillade leans forward, wingblades whipping out to their full span, even as her arms lock backward in place as the rear fuselage. Her torso folds out to the become the cockpit of a space capable B-1R Lancer, ready for flight! Space-Going B-1R Lancer rumbles out in amusement at the plucky tape. "Oh, Americon, you will find a way -- you are resourceful!" Polarity says, "And not a sign of zombies this time either!" Americon's optics narrowly dangerously. "Oh, I will. I will..." Polarity says, "Maybe Swindle just imagined that." Boomslang says, "Those are further up north, around the bridge." F-15E Strike Eagle looks over his shoulder (can he even see past the big vents sticking out of them?!) at his back where he took most of the damage from being shot at while shielding Boomslang, and then blown up to boot. Not much left to the armor, and bits of damaged internal frame can be seen. "Tch. I'm gonna need a whole new back-up." Starts snickering at his own bad joke. The Strike Eagle jet rearranges into the magnetic Seeker Polarity! Boomslang has already snuck off to go hunting Autobot stragglers with his knife and sidearm, like wild pigs. Decepticon Message: 2/146 Posted Author Cyberswamp Drawbridge Reclaimed Fri Mar 05 Fusillade ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ~Fusillade appears in an executive suite hot oil bath, amber lightweight liquid slicking off her as she sits up. She is noticeably sober, and unusually demure~ Decepticons, I am quite happy to report that I and a team of three other Decepticons were able to successfully retake the Cyberswamp territory in a clash with a joint Autobot/EDC/Junkion force. Seekers Boomslang and Polarity joined Americon and I. The Autobots Dogfight and Nightbeat were present, accompanied by an unknown Junkion dump truck (Lab-Brat) and an EDC officer, Wolfe I think. Americon showed that size was no factor in a fight, and despite the hyooman trying to KILL himself with a self-destruct weapon on his suit, we prevailed. The surrounding area has been scoured to ensure no residual pockets of resistance remained... *she hunkers back down in the steaming oil, hands out of sight until she raises them, holding charred blue armor, two halves of a bumper pieced together to read "IBRK4BUZ"* Lord Galvatron, as tribute, I offer the arm and knees of the Autobot detective Nightbeat, in retaliation for the humilation he bestowed upon you earlier. I recommend that the Constructicons and other interested scientists and engineers fortify this location, and that Aerospace and Military Operations maintain vigilant patrols. I will continue with my reclamation efforts, and offer my apologies to Lord Shockwave for the tardiness of action. Fusillade, out. ~blip~ Darkmount - Workshop ''White cement tile floors complete with floor drains mark this room as a maintenance space even before you see all the machine tools. Toolchests and workbenches are mounted on the walls, with the center of the room left open for access to the lifts and hoists. Air hoses for pneumatic tools hang in reels from the ceiling, easily accessable from any part of the room, and at several points along the rear wall there are connections for fuel, coolant and welding gas hoses. Shockwave comes back in to check on the patients. Shockwave doesn't normally descend to doing medical work, but the Constructicons have been busy lately and Galvatron is an exception. Hobbling in, looking considerably rejuvenated and relaxed since her dip, Fusillade deposits the trophies by Galvatron's table, careful to avoid his cannnon arm. She casts a weary glance at Shockwave, and raises a hand in faint greeting to the commander. Well, that was certainly an interesting outing. And successful too. Polarity trods into the workshop and plunks down to wait for a medic or other technician to come along and do something about the fact that between getting shot repeatly while forcefielding someone else, taking an exploding exo's blast, and so on, he's missing about 90% of his back and whatever should be underneath it. If there's one type of person Polarity knows NOT to tick off, it's the ones that can do repair, so he just sits and waits like a good little Seeker. "Your report crossed my desk," Shockwave tells Fusillade, examining her briefly and then turning to look Polarity over. "Your accomplishments are commendable," he emits, probably addressing Fusillade although he isn't looking at her. "I look forward to similar gains from the rest of our vanguard." Shockwave scans Polarity thoroughly, then turns away to load a medical drone with the data and his instructions. The drone clambers up onto the slab and pins Polarity down, grinding and buzzing and cutting and welding away with a dozen arms exactly as instructed by Shockwave's information-dense transmission. Combat: Shockwave prepares Polarity for surgery, his COMBAT flag has been waived. Combat: Shockwave expertly repairs Polarity's injuries. Combat: Shockwave is able to repair some of Polarity's internal systems damage. Galvatron emits a light grunt as people begin stomping in. His optics slowly begin to glow. Polarity grunts a bit as the drone starts digging into his back to work, but grits his metal teeth and bears it out like a proper warrior. "Something else would have crossed your desk if your door hadn't been locked, Shockwave," Fusillade says with more of her normal sass. She snatches up a chamois cloth, and dabs at the oil-diluted energon that continues to weep from the deepest of the destruction in her left thigh. "And not soon enough to please some, I'm afraid," she says archly. As she arranges herself on a procedure chair to watch Shockwave work on Polarity, she asks, "So, what's this guy's story? I mean, I got him to say his name to me right at the beginning of the fight, but we were just way too busy to chat otherwise." "That is a story best told by Polarity himself," Shockwave replies, going back to making some fine adjustments to Galvatron's fusion cannon. Polarity turns a bit to look towards the two chatting, though being careful to not dislodge the work being done on his back. "Eeeh? Which story you lookin' for miss, I've got quite a few." Fusillade makes a face at the use of 'miss', but lets it slide for now. "Well, what you were up to before now. Your greatest triumphs, your most embarrassing failures. It's refreshing to have escort fighters that are not completely hopeless. What are your abilities? I saw something about magnetism on your dossier..." She angles herself upright again, looks at the medical grade energon in mild disappointment, and abstains for now. There was better waiting for her in her quarters. Galvatron emits an "Mrrrmmmmff," as his body rouses to life and slowly but surely props himself up onto his elbows. He looks very tired and very annoyed. "Great Galvatron," says Shockwave by way of salutations as Galvatron wakes up, "your warriors return victorious. I have issued additional orders, while alternately praising and denigrating, in order to motivate the troops. We are gaining ground. Iahex has fallen." Polarity chuckles a bit, not really surprised when people don't know him. You tend to blend in when you've got the same body design as a large chunk of the 'generic' aerial forces. "That's right, I'm able to accutely manipulate my own magnetic fields. That's how I knocked that junk-truck around. And the magnetized energy field around Boomslang." He shrugs a little, giving the 'greatest triumphs' part a vage dismissive wave. "Did stuff on cybertron hunting Autobots when they were playing guerilla warfare for while, but they like to keep shippin' me off to guard places were weird forces would mess other 'Cons up." There's your explaination for being new but not so new after all. He's just been sent off to all sorts of strange out of the way places. As Galvatron rouses, and Shockwave delivers his summary, Fusillade glances at the pair warily, but doesn't move from the reclining chair. "Ah, I see. Lots of space assignments. EMP hardening is useful in such fields, true." She flashes a fanged grin at Polarity. "AND useful for pranking." Galvatron listens for a moment. "Hnnh. So you're motivating them, are you? What a sad state we're in, when someone with no personality has to provide 'motivation.'" His lip curls in disgust. "But the true fall of Iahex is good news indeed. What other victories have we enjoyed?" Polarity keeps it stifled with big-wigs like the two purple guys around, but snickers and nods to Fusillade at the pranking comment all the same. "Yeah... I'm much happier being back on the frontlines though, lemme tell ya." "The Northern polar region is now under our control, Great Galvatron," Shockwave replies. "You have not been disabled for long enough for further ground to have been taken, but I believe we may have seized the initiative." A glint flickers across Fusillade's optics as Polarity offers his extracurricular credentials. As Galvatron becomes more salient, she gesticulates to the pile of Nightbeat parts. Aw yeah.